Free Cooking & Dance Lessons for Escape Villa Guests

A quick glance on TripAdvisor and you’ll understand why so many travelers rave about their Costa Rica vacation experience with Escape Villas! Luxurious ocean view homes, 24-hour concierge and friendly customer service are always top on the list of compliments, but the recurring praise for our gourmet chefs and their inspiring cuisine has prompted a new guest engagement program we are very excited to launch this month, which marks the beginning of the tourist high season.

Click here and make your visit to Costa Rica special by booking a stay at our amazing villas!

 

As if there weren’t enough compelling reasons to consider a vacation rental for your Costa Rican getaway, we’re about to give you a few more – that is, if you book your beach or jungle villa with us!

Learn to cook like a master and dance like a Salsa king – for free

A vacation rental home affords tons of advantages, especially when traveling with children. At Escape Villas, all of our properties come with fully-equipped kitchens, making meals on the fly a snap. Dining out for breakfast, lunch and dinner can really add up, and cooking in not only saves money, it can be a great time to relax and enjoy time with loved ones.

Our pre-trip concierge can now schedule a free cooking class for guests staying in our main properties in Manuel Antonio! This is just one facet of our new program which was designed to add more value to your Escape Villas vacation. Our master chef will teach you how to prepare a couple of dishes that will make your taste buds do the happy dance. Infused with tropical ingredients, these recipes are both easy to follow and will truly impress your friends!

Whet your whistle with this Pineapple Carpaccio with Crystallized Ginger recipe, one of our featured dishes:

Ingredients:

• ½ fresh pineapple – sliced into rings
• Syrup:
• ½ cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• Ginger
• Crystallized Ginger:
• 1 ½ cups water
• 1 ½ cups sugar (plus a bit extra)
• 1 cup peeled and sliced fresh ginger

Directions:

To make the syrup, combine all ingredients until well blended and put aside. For the crystallized ginger: combine water and 1 ½ cups sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, add the ginger. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Transfer the ginger to a wire rack and let dry and then roll the dried ginger slices in the extra sugar.

Arrange the pineapple slices on a serving plate and using a pastry brush, apply the syrup and then sprinkle with the crystallized ginger.

Enjoy a welcome tour and salsa dance lessons

Before you start heating up the kitchen with your new-found culinary prowess, our guest services would like to welcome you to Costa Rica with a free one-hour tour of the Manuel Antonio and Quepos area. We’ll show you all the local hotspots, including where to pick up groceries, where to shop for clothes, bus stops and other pertinent information to make your holiday more comfortable.

In addition to our culinary class, we’re also featuring complimentary salsa lessons to help you master the steps of this Latin American classic. Ticos absolutely LOVE to dance, and on any given night you will find salsa, meringue and cumbia music in nightclubs and discotheques.